


Prop

by whenyoudesertme (phrenk)



Category: Arashi (Band), Japanese Actor RPF, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-05
Updated: 2010-02-05
Packaged: 2017-10-13 02:31:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/131853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phrenk/pseuds/whenyoudesertme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aiba makes a lot of plans but can't always see what will come at the ends of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prop

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://whenyoudesertme.livejournal.com/14891.html).

It took a couple years to settle into being Arashi, but when it happened there was no going back. They went from struggling to make small talk for the camera to laughing and joking easily, from finding a point on which to fix one's eyes during the dance interludes to being able to look at each other and smile. The particularly energetic choreography was done was extra zest, each member trying to top the person next to him in exuberance. Somewhere along the line, Arashi lost its shame, and with it the last trace of self-consciousness they had with each other.

Aiba saw this as an opportunity.

He knew there were still some lines within the group, the proper lines of friends and coworkers and people who spent ridiculous amounts of time together. Lines of decency, lines of not prying too closely, lines of personal lives.

But, without his interference, the lines were already looking a bit smudgy.

Aiba aimed to smudge them a great deal more.

He drew several diagrams of five bodies in extremely unlikely situations before deciding to start with a one-on-one approach.

He knew the hardest one to win over would be Jun. Nino made his existence in the space outside the lines and Ohno wouldn't think it was strange if Aiba walked in and shoved his hand down his pants. He might jump and his eyes would get enormous, but if his body said yes (and Aiba knew enough about Leader by now to know that it would) his mind rarely saw fit to question it. Sho seemed like the tricky one on the surface, but the list of things he wouldn't do for Arashi was so consistently being revised that it was nearing empty. Sho was like a jawbreaker: if you bit down hard he'd stand strong, but if you held him and applied consistent pressure (and didn't give him a chance to run away), he melted.

Jun, however, Jun had lines. If Aiba believed that his inner lines were as defined as his outer ones, he might give up his plan altogether. (But probably not.) Jun was a professional. Jun believed in boundaries. But Aiba had come to know Jun almost as well as he knew himself, and Aiba was pretty sure that Jun's heart was like a toilet, and no matter how much love Arashi gave him he could find a place for it and still want more. (He had drawn Jun a picture of this one time but Jun had actually made him eat the paper it was drawn on. Aiba still pouted to himself when he thought about that.) Jun's heart had no lines; he loved and loved Arashi until his brain had to step in as best it could and say, "Coworkers. Friends and coworkers."

Aiba knew better. And when it came to the battle between heart and mind, Aiba was pretty sure Jun's heart came down on the side of Jun's penis. (Or wait, was it the other way around?)

To be on the safe side, Aiba saved Jun for last. He figured he'd start with Nino, who had the best chance of convincing everyone else.

When Aiba snuck into Nino's room to wait for him, he found Ohno instead, naked and asleep. Aiba blinked. Was that a _bow_ on Ohno's ... well. Apparently Nino had beaten him to the punch.

Abruptly, irrationally, he felt hot tears prick at his eyes and he sat down on the edge of the bed and sniffed.

Ohno cracked open an eye and Aiba turned away, desperate not to explain the situation.

"You should really lock the door," he tried. "Anyone could have-"

"Aiba-chan." Turning back around showed Ohno, arms open, sleepy and warm. Aiba collapsed onto him with a wail.

* * * * * * * *

Nino walked into his hotel room to find Aiba wrapped around Ohno, sobbing. Even Ohno's distinct lack of clothes couldn't keep him from wanting to turn around and walk right back out but something twisted in his chest at the sound of Aiba's raw unhappiness and Ohno caught his eye beseechingly. Then he saw that Ohno's penis was wrapped neatly with a bright yellow ribbon and he was disarmed enough to snicker. Aiba peered over blearily and seemed to hit a fresh wave of tears.

When Nino had coaxed the whole story out of him, Aiba looked drained and relieved. Nino had perched on the bed and thunked his elbows down on Aiba's ribs, poking when necessary to elicit a more truthful response. Aiba had finally trailed off after spitting everything out and was quietly snuffling into Ohno's hair. (Ohno looked mostly asleep again but Nino would have bet all of Jun's money that he had heard everything.)

"Aiba-chan, you should have at least let Oh-chan get dressed before you snotted all over him."

Aiba just gave a pathetic shrug and sighed heavily onto Ohno's neck. It looked like he had cried himself tired and was going to pass out. Nino poked him viciously.

Ohno peeked his eyes open enough to reproach Nino with them and Nino huffed, leaning over to see Aiba's face more clearly.

Aiba was tear-stained and exhausted and he looked so very young and Nino couldn't help remembering that face when he'd met Aiba, how he'd been shy and awkward but always bright, how he'd sneaked himself into Nino's life without permission and never left.

Nino brushed the hair back that was clinging to Aiba's sticky cheeks. He reached his other hand over to Ohno and closed his eyes for a second, letting himself feel the warmth and strength of their reluctant leader, before collapsing pointily over the both of them. He poked Aiba again, more gently this time.

"What are you, lonely?" Aiba tried to turn his face into the pillow but somehow Ohno, all pliancy up to now, had gotten his arm around Aiba and made him face the situation with one firm hand.

"How could I ever love anyone as much as I love you guys?" Aiba stumbled out.

Ohno's hand gentled on his chin and he pressed his lips to Aiba's forehead. Aiba leaned into it, shaking. Nino reached over and grabbed the comforter that had been thrown to the side. He dragged it over all three of them and waited, his heart beating fast.

"I don't even have time to get to know anyone, no one's going to want to date me in secret whenever _I_ have the time, and even then they'd still always come second to Arashi. Possibly third, I really love my family a whole lot and then there's my dog--" Ohno stroked down Aiba's neck soothingly and the babble was cut off. Finally Aiba took a shuddering breath and got to the point.

"That's not fair to anyone. I already love you."

Nino paused, then leaned in and kissed him softly on the mouth. "We love you too, Aiba-chan." He sighed, sifting through the possible things he could say. Ohno shifted under him, bringing an arm up to curl around his ribs.

"The five of us, I want us to be together forever," Nino started, and it wasn't the first time he'd said something like that but it still felt new and frightening in his chest. "You could have this, this year or two of all of us finding ways to share each other, and I'm not pretending it wouldn't be awesome. We are all incredibly attractive, even Matsujun." Aiba snorted out a laugh.

"But we're going to grow up, Aiba-chan, and we're going to be in each other's space all the time. And it would end, and when it did, it would end messy. Relationships end. Arashi doesn't.

"You're twenty years old. Someday you'll find someone you can love as much as we love Arashi."

"It's not fair," Aiba sniffled. "You're twenty, too, and you already have Leader."

Nino harrumphed irritably. "I don't _have_ Leader-"

"Do too," Ohno said.

"-and maybe someday Oh-chan will find some special girl to love and marry and have kids with."

"Will not," Ohno mumbled into Aiba's hair. "I'm already married to Nino-chan."

"You're not supposed to talk back tonight, Leader, that's the game."

Aiba was amused despite himself. "When does Leader ever talk back, that you'd need to make that into a game?"

"He's talking back right now, isn't he?" Nino snapped back.

They lay curled together quietly for a while and Nino could hear that Aiba was trying to relax his breathing. He could almost feel Aiba deciding that it was time to get up and go back to his room, alone, and Nino clung to him tightly.

"Oh-chan, get my phone out of my pants?" A sleepy grumble resulted but Nino waggled his hips back and forth, earning unhappy noises from both people under him. He didn't let go of Aiba.

Finally the phone was produced. "Okay, Oh-chan, I need you to send a mail to Sho-chan and Jun-kun." Aiba startled, beginning a protest, and Nino said "LALALALALA" loudly until Aiba shut up.

"What should it say?" Ohno asked obediently.

Nino considered. "Try 'is it a bad sign that Oh-chan won't wake up?'" he suggested. Ohno's mouth twisted in his rarely shown evil smile. Aiba seemed to have zoned out, probably trying to pretend this wasn't happening.

"Sent," Ohno said, letting the phone thump down onto the sheets. He snuggled closer to Nino and Aiba and appeared to fall back to sleep. Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door.

Nino extricated himself from the comfortable bed with poor grace. "Geez, that was even faster than I-OH-CHAN HOLD HIM DOWN." Aiba's attempt to wriggle away was foiled by a lightning quick grab.

"Stay right here with me, Aiba-chan," Ohno said peacefully.

When Nino opened the door he was nearly bowled over by Sho and Jun.

"What the hell do you mean, Ohno won't wake up?! Have you called an ambulance?" Sho shouted and then dropped to a dead stop when he saw Ohno and Aiba under the covers, seemingly fast asleep. Jun took in the situation and glared daggers at Nino.

"Did I say that?" Nino said innocently. "Oh well, as long as you're here, let's all stay here together tonight!" Sho was still staring at Ohno and Aiba, trying to breathe, while Jun tried storming out. Nino caught him by the arms.

"I really think you should stay here with us, Jun-kun." Jun gave a snarl but Nino held him, looking him in the eyes. He brought him by the hand over to the bed and Jun caught sight of Aiba's face. He glanced quickly up to Nino questioningly but Nino only shrugged. He pushed him down beside Aiba and went over to collect Sho.

"Sho-kun, we're sleeping here tonight," he said with the tone of a nursery school teacher calming a small child. Sho followed Nino docilely. When he got to the bed he dutifully pulled back the covers before Nino could grab his arm.

"Sho-chan, you might not want to-"

"WHY IS SATOSHI-KUN NAKED."

Nino shoved Sho down on the bed next to Ohno. Sho spluttered incoherently.

Nino walked to the foot of the bed and looked down at his bandmates meditatively. Then he shrugged and threw himself on top. There was much shrieking and flailing and finally he finagled himself back under the covers, comfortably back on Ohno and Aiba. Jun stared at him angrily from one side like a wet cat and Sho, on the other...

"Sho-kun, why are you on the floor?"

Sho's head poked up and he glared at Nino before deflating defeatedly. He started to get back into bed before stopping, and Nino could see him debating between warmth and propriety. Finally he threw caution to the wind and slid under the comforter next to Ohno.

Nino flung an arm out until he hit some part of Jun, grabbing at him until he was lying down next to Aiba.

"Okay, so what the hell's wrong with Aiba?" Jun said. He sounded brusque and Nino could feel Aiba flinch, but the look on Jun's face was anything but stern.

"Maybe he'll tell you another time," Nino said, looking speculatively at Jun. "We need to sleep now, we have to get up early today."

"Some of us were sleeping already," Sho grumbled. Nino ignored him. As he closed his eyes he felt a hand that must have creeped over Aiba. He could feel Aiba hold himself stiff before relaxing back into Jun with a noisy exhale and Nino had to resist the urge to poke Aiba again.

There was a prolonged silence and Nino tried to fall asleep, knowing the alarm would be going off far too soon. He could feel Aiba under him, though, breathing still irregular. He was about to say something, although he didn't know if it would have been cutting or reassuring, when Aiba spoke instead.

"I really love you guys," he whispered into Ohno's neck, and Nino had to hide his face when he felt arms come around him from all sides, unhesitating and steadfast.


End file.
